Truss.



W. V. GAGE.

TRUSS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15, 1913,

1,125,087. Patented Jan. 19, 1915;

W1.TNESSES.-

Til MED s'rans a eon WILL V. GAGE, OF PRIZE/[E30, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BENJAMIN F.

SPRINGER AND GEORGE HAUSMAN', BOTH OF TRINIDAD, COLORADO. i

TRUSS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 19-15.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILL V. GAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Primero, in the county of Las Animas and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trusses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in trusses and its object resides in the provision of an apparatus of this character which when in use will exert the gentle, even and firm pressure required to hold a hernia in place, by means separate from or acting in conjunction with the band or spring which in the ordinary truss .encircles the body to secure a pad in place over the hernial openmg.

The pressure made by my improved t1 uss upon the affected parts is best compared with that which would be maintained by the hand in holding the rupture in place and its construction permits of a ready variation in the stress produced without necessarily tightening the band or belt with which the truss pad is connected, around the body of the patient.

My improved truss consists essentially of a spring which at one of its ends carries the pad to be placed over the hernial openmg and which at its opposite end is attached to a suitable device for holding it at one or more points of the body, above the said opening.

A band similar to that used in connection with an ordinary truss is employed to hold the improved .contrivance in its proper position with relation to the hernial opening, in which position the spring curves away from the body of the patient to exert a continuous pressure upon the pad attached at its free extremity.

By changing the curvature of the spring the apparatus may be readily adjusted to provide such pressure as the nature of the hernia demands and this adjustment may, if so desired, furthermore be varied by tightening or loosening the band which by connection with the spring, secures the apparatus on the body of the patient.

In the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are similarly designated,

Figure 1 represents a front elevation of my improved truss, Fig. 2, a side view of the same, Figs. 3 and 4 respectively, a front view and a side view of a body to which the truss is applied, and Figs. 5 and ,6, fragmentary views illustrating difi'erent methods of attaching the elastic element of the truss to the pads applied at the extremities of the same.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, my lmproved truss comprises an elast c element which is composed of spring wire doubled and bent in the form of a cross as designated in Fig. 1, and curved out of the plane of the ends of its longitudinal body portion 15, as shown in Fig. 2. The lateral arms 16 of the element are wound spirally at their extremities to increase its resiliency and the transverse portion 17 which oins the ends of the partially convergent members of which its longitudinal or body portion 15 is composed, is coiled as at 18 for the same purpose.

The hernia pad 5 which is applied at one end of the body portion of the elastic element and the supporting pads 8 which are disposed at opposite ends of the transverse portion 17 of the same are articulately (connected with the element by means of loops 19 through which the adjacent portions of the wires loosely extend, and theband for securing the instrument to the body of the patient is composed of two parts 20 and 21 which are attached at the spiral extremities of the lateral arms 16.

It is obvious that in place of the articulate connections shown in Figs. 1 and 2, ball and socket joints such as illustrated at 22 in Fig. 6, may be employed to provide for uniyersal movement of the pads or that the latter may be rigidly connected with the resilient element by soldering or other suitable means as shown in Fig. 5.

When my improved truss is applied to the human body the hernia pad is, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, placed as usual over the hernial opening, and the supporting pads are placed in engagement with the soft parts of the abdomen at points above the same after which the instrument is secured in place by fastening the band to which the spring is attached, around the body. When the device is thus applied the elastic element is byreason of its curvature, spaced from the surface of the body as is plainly shown in Fig. 4, and by movement about its end which, comparatively speaking, is held in a fixed position by the location of the supporting pads 110 8 over a pressure resisting portion of the body, exerts a continuous pressure on the hernia pad 5 which is disposed over the yielding matter inside the hernial opening.

The pressure is readily regulated by changing the curvature of the elastic element which may be accomplished by either bending the wire of which it is composed to an arc of different radius while the truss is detached from the body, or by changing the degree of the curvature of the same by tightening or loosening the band by means of which it is held in place.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A truss comprising an elastic element composed of longitudinally curved wire, bent and doubled in the form of a cross, the ends of its transverse portion being wound spirally, pads attached at the ends or" the longitudinal portion of said element, and a band connected at the said ends ol its transverse portion.

2. A truss comprising an elastic element composed of Wire bent and doubled in the form. of a cross, the parts of said wire constituting the longitudinal portion of said cross being convergent and connected at their ends by a transverse part, pads attached at the ends of the last mentioned part, a pad attached at the end of the said longitudinal portion remote from the said transverse part, and a band connected with said element for securing it in place on a body to which the truss is applied.

3. A truss comprising an elastic element composed of wire bent and doubled in the form of a cross, the parts of said wire constituting the longitudinal portion of said cross being convergent and connected at their ends by a coiled transverse part, pads attached at the ends of the last mentioned part, a pad attached at the end of the said longitudinal portion remote from the said transverse part, and a band connected with said element for securing it in place on a body to which the truss is applied.

4. In a truss, an element composed of a single piece of resilient material bent to provide a transverse upper member and downwardly convergent side members provided with parts adapted for the attachment of a strap by which the truss is secured in place on a body to which it is applied, pads attached at the ends of said transverse member, and a hernia pad attached at the connection between the lower ends of the side members.

5. In a truss, an element composed of a single piece of resilient material bent to provide a transverse upper member and downwardly convergent, outwardly curving side members provided with parts adapted for the attachment of a strap by which the truss is secured in place on a body to which it is applied, pads attached at the ends of said transverse member, and a hernia pad attached at the connection between the lower ends of the side members.

6. In a truss, an element composed of a single piece of resilient material bent to provide a transverse helically coiled upper member and downwardly convergent side members provided with parts adapted for tlie attachment of a strap by which the truss is secured in place on a body to which it is applied, pads attached at the ends of said transverse member, and a hernia pad attached at the connection between the lower ends of the side members.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILL V. GAGE.

Witnesses Gno. HAUsMAN, B. F. SPRINGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. U. 

